Sons of Ranndar
The Sons of Ranndar are the warlike abhuman inhabitants and sole sapient species of the Greatcloud's Ranndar system, resembling large, hulking human males -- though the Sons are a single-gendered race, sterile and incapable of reproduction thanks to genetic tampering by the Final Accord of Humanity. "Seeded" on Ranndar long ago by the Black Ship Undaunted, the Sons are isolated from the rest of the galaxy and unaware of the greater galactic community, observed from orbit by the Undaunted and her crew as specimens within a controlled experiment. The Sons' society, divided into clans and artificially accelerated by occasional Accord interference when deemed appropriate, presently exists in a pre-medieval state brought about by the "revelation" of bronze smithing and forging. Each clan wars with its fellows as per "divine mandate" by the Accord, and the population numbers of Ranndar -- never growing, thanks to the racial sterility -- have plummeted since the beginning of the experiment, new Sons only rarely created and introduced to the closed system by the ever-looming Undaunted. Such late-introduction factors to the experiment are often hailed as champions or agents of the divine, appearing to certain clans when most needed and sung of in Ranndic legends. Society The Sons -- having no patriarchal lines nor family units save those imposed by the clan structure -- respect strength, honor, and loyalty as the final arbiters of their short, brutish way of life. Chieftains are expected to reward those in their service who do great deeds for the clan, and poetry and song are revered nearly as highly as prowess in battle, particularly those poems that remember Ranndic heroes. To be immortalized in verse is the greatest honor a Son of Ranndar can achieve, as their legacies come not in the form of children or houses, but deeds. Though sexual relationships between them are impossible, some Sons "mate" for life, forging romantic entanglements and burning loyalty to those among their fellows who earn their respect and trust. Such mates are typically treated as functional next-of-kin for the purposes of inheritance, bequeathing of titles, remembrance, and so on. They revere the Undaunted itself -- forever hanging in the sky over Ranndar -- as the Black Father, a deity of kinship, war, and feasting. Controversy & public awareness Since its exposure to the galactic public through leaked classified reports, the ongoing Ranndar Experiment has become a subject of intense debate and controversy in the greater Accord, with ongoing heated discussions as to whether the Sons should be uplifted and integrated into the Accord, or left to carry out their isolated existence. The "Friends of Ranndar," an intersystem organization that champions the Sons' rights and lifestyle, uphold them as wise sages for forsaking the Accord's destructive brand of technological advancement, and admire the relative -- if brutal -- simplicity of their civilization. Ultimately, however, what keeps the Greatcloud from bringing the Sons into the fold is the unspoken threat of what the galaxy's most effective, ferocious warriors could do with advanced Accord weaponry.Category:Races Category:Greatcloud Category:No Spoilers